Differences
by CiCix3
Summary: What happens when a shy writer is pushed into her crush's life on and off screen? Will she finally be able to let go and be herself or will she lose out on someone who could make her the happiest she's ever been? Slow burn. First time fic. Published on Tumblr too. Lemons later/
1. Ready

**Chapter 1: Ready**

His accent.

That was the first thing she noticed about him. It was soft and lilting and reminded her of the backwoods of her home state. They weren't quite as beautiful sounding when they spoke but still, it was nice to be reminded of North Carolina without actually going home.

Zuri ducked back into the shadows just to watch his interactions with others. He was kind, sweet, handsome. She thought he was the sweetest person ever unless he was in Demon mode. She had only seen it once when she'd started six months ago as a writer for WWE. He hadn't scared her, actually it was…. _arousing_. Such a sweet man into such a hard ass? She could deal with that. But he never saw her. It wasn't like anyone noticed her anyway. _That's what happens when you're a nobody_ , she thought. Especially when you were a quiet, awkward Black nobody. She shook her head, walked out of her hiding place and kept her head down before anyone noticed her. _I wish that HE noticed me though._

But he wouldn't. He was out of her league & even if he weren't, would the end result be worth it? Nah. She went on her way to hide in a locker room with her friends or maybe they'd want food. Either way, she had to get her thoughts of Fergal Devitt off her mind. For her sanity.


	2. Game of Chance

Chapter 2: Game of Chance

"Zuri, I like your idea but we just can't have women fighting the men. It just wouldn't look right." Zuri hated the patronizing tone Jay had. He honestly made her want to vomit but, she contained herself and got ready for her response. Hopefully, the head writer would be done soon. Either that or she'd smack him with a chair and take that angry Black woman stereotype.

"I understand Jay but we want the women over as Superstars too. The women are ready. They're going to have a Hell in a Cell match! Nia vs Rusev would be amazing." Zuri crossed her arms over her chest and regretted it since Jay stared at her chest before she cleared her throat. "The fans want it."

"No." Never had one word made her so frustrated. "The broads aren't ready for the big boys. You also need to scrap your plans for Naomi. We're giving that storyline to Dana or Eva."

"WHAT?! Why aren't we giving Trinity a chance? She's great and I think that if we just-"

"No. No one cares about her. What I say goes. The end." Jay turned to Veronica and ignored Zuri's protests. He ALWAYS did this. He never took her ideas or if he did, it was to give them to Dana Brooke or Eva Marie. Naomi, or to Zuri, Trinity, had been kept off TV for months and she was never given a chance. Why did she even try? The meeting ended and Zuri, drained, left the office. She was the youngest person on the writing staff at 22 and it seemed the only person who cared about diversity and the fans. She pulled her locs into a bun and headed to the Fatu locker room. Maybe Trinity could help her come up with a way to go to Shane with ideas. He seemed the most reasonable and least pervy member of that family.

She walked with her head down and never noticed the person who stepped in front of her until-

"Ow." Shit! She'd just hit either a living brick wall or a person. She glanced at her skin which was now paint covered. Please be a brick wall, she thought. It'd be way less embarrassing.

"You okay darlin?" Oh that Irish brogue. Why did he have to be so nice?!

"Y-yeah. I'm good. Sorry I messed your paint up? I can go find someone to fix it." She was stumbling over her words like she was moonshine drunk. Moonshine drunk was NOT a good thing for her. The last time, she may have died. She still wasn't sure how she woke up without a hangover.

Fergal smiled and shook his head. "You didn't mess anything up. I just finished my match. I know I've seen you but I don't know your name." He looked at her expectantly but she had one slight problem.

He had looked at her and she forgot her name.

"Uhhhhhh…." "Zuri! I've been looking for you! Hey, Finn, right? I need to borrow her for a second."

Thank God for Joe. He'd saved her yet again, much like he had since she'd sat beside him in a movie theater and didn't hit on him. In fact, she'd just asked for his hair regimen, gave him character ideas and offered to braid his hair. He'd never had someone not gawk at him which made him instantly adopt her.

"Of course. Until the next time, Zuri." He looked her in the eye and kissed her hand. He nodded to Joe and walked away.

Zuri wanted to melt into a puddle but she knew if Joe, who knew of her insane crush had stepped in to keep her from talking to Fergal, it had to be big.

"What happened Joe? Is everything okay?"

"I'm good. Jon just found out Renee is still lying about them being together and the fact she slept with Lesnar and that writer guy so he'd lose to Lesnar. He went crazy and stormed out to get drunk. I'm headed there but before I left, I wanted to see if you wanted to come with?" Great. Jon or as everyone knew him The Dude or Dean Ambrose had found out his fuck buddy had been fronting in social media again. Although, he probably was more mad that her vagina cost him matches.

Zuri sighed and headed to grab her bag. "Let's go. Maybe this time, Good can keep up with me."

Joe laughed and headed out after Zuri.


	3. Don't Kill My Vibe

_Author's Note: Reviews make things improve_

 _Slight filler chapter_

Chapter 3: Don't Kill My Vibe

The night ended with Jon being too wasted to move from the floor of his room. The whole night he had bemoaned the fact that, once again, his "penis had gotten a chick so messed up that she tried to fuck his life." Zuri didn't want to know how often that happened. She hadn't gotten that messed up so she decided to wake up and make some breakfast the next morning. Maybe beating up some eggs and making grits would make her feel better about the whole being scared to talk to Fergal thing. Maybe.

She assembled her ingredients and began to cook. Cooking soothed her. It made her feel normal. She was the best when she was in the kitchen. It felt like her grandmother was next to her again. She missed those times. She wished her grandma were alive so she could ask her advice about Finn. Yeah, her mother was awesome but sometimes, sometimes she needed that kind touch and great advice. She turned on some oldies and began to sing along as she made a full breakfast.

"You wanna tell me why you were tripping over your words last night with Lego man?" Joe's deep baritone and sneaky ways of coming up behind her were going to kill her one day. You'd think he would've learned after he had gotten a cast iron skillet to the head for scaring her.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Now, if you want to talk about what you _thought_ you saw, you won't need any breakfast." Zuri patted her hair through her bonnet. No way she was going to tell Joe a damn thing. Joe, God bless his heart, would tell Jon who'd tell Colby who'd tell whatever person was currently attached to his dick and then it'd get around until Fergal heard it. Nope. Not happening.

"If you say so. If you were to want to talk about it, I'm here to listen. We are best friends. We've ridden together. Oiled each other's scalps. Kept Good from killing his liver again. I won't judge your crush on Balor." Joe smiled, brown eyes twinkling. He moved away from the counter. "I still want breakfast though."

"You'll get a hot breakfast from me when your eyes are changed to those silver/blue contacts you have permanently, you ass." Zuri shook her head. She was going to feed Joe but he was right. She needed to tell someone about how she felt and get some type of advice. Otherwise she was going to go insane. But who?

After the boys left to go workout, which thankfully, she was able to get out of, she headed to the arena for the night. She needed some quiet time to outline her ideas for the creative meeting that was scheduled that night. Maybe if she didn't give _too_ many details, Jay would let her ideas go out. _Or maybe I should use Renee to help my career._ Nah, that wouldn't end well.

As she walked through the backstage area, she thought about the last time she'd gone to the gym with the three stooges and had seen Fergal there. Thank goodness her mocha skin didn't bruise easily after she fell off the treadmill when he came into the gym. She almost passed out in the sauna hiding from him. She shook her head to rid herself of her thoughts. Yep, this was a full blown crush like she'd had in high school. _Hopefully I don't fall down the stairs this time._ No one would let her live that down.

She let her hair down to surround her face. If no one saw her, she would be a million times better off. She had yet to figure out her life and she knew most 22 year old's didn't know what they wanted to do until they were 25 at least. But she didn't want to be like everyone else. She never had been before, why start now?

She was so deep in her thoughts she never noticed Fergal's eyes on her and his quiet footsteps following her. She never noticed him. Even when he went out of his way for her to. He wasn't sure why he did. After all, he was surely ancient compared to her but she held a soft knowing beauty about herself and he thought she was an intelligent woman. She was stunning both in knowledge and inner beauty but her smile made his year. She would never want to be with him but he could be her friend. Like Joe and the others. Even if he did want more.


	4. Me, Myself and I

_Thanks to writergrrrl for the reviews! Makes my day to see them_ _J_

Chapter 4: Me, Myself and I

Zuri wrote for a few hours. She felt slightly better and decided to try to find Shane since she still really thought Trinity deserved a better storyline than just being the one who kept Total Divas from being cancelled or a wife to an Uso. She left her small alcove and walked down the hall. So far, she'd managed to avoid everyone she didn't want to see or, to be quite honest, work with, but she knew that in the small village that was the craziness of the backstage of WWE, it was bound to happen.

"Zuri!" Shit. It was one thing to run into one of them but two of them together? Maybe her other grandma was right: she needed to go to church so her luck would change.

"Zuri, you gotta help! Jon's talking about letting everyone know we're not together! I can't have that!" Zuri thought about how much time she'd receive for snatching Renee's dog hair looking extensions or grabbing a giant, elementary school eraser and erasing her makeup. Eh, it may be worth it.

"No, Renee, I don't have to help. Maybe if you didn't, I don't know, _lie_ , you wouldn't have these issues. Or maybe not sleep with married men. That'd help too." Zuri slid a sideways glance at said married man. He puffed up his chest like a proud rooster. For what, she'd never know but he thought himself important so she'd humor him. Until she was his boss and then she'd fire him. Live. On camera through an Instagram video or maybe on Facebook live. That made her smile.

"Ms. Atkins, you'd do well to remember I'm your boss. You're already on shaky ground without the insults. You **do** like your job, right?" Zuri really wished Jay would get caught having sex in the locker room or his penis would fall off. Or both. Yeah, both was better. She looked at him, hard, and walked away. She didn't need a charge for hurting her boss. That wouldn't provide her a stable future in the company and that's all she really wanted. Being an adult was annoyingly hard.

"Have you seen Shane?" Zuri had asked almost everyone that same question for the last 3 hours. Either he didn't want to be bothered or he wasn't coming to Raw that night. Both options sucked for her because she really wanted to talk to him about her ideas and possibly get some additional time away from the other writers. She had 30 minutes before the creative meeting was underway and if she hurried, she could knock on the office doors once more.

She took off in the direction that he should've been in, praying she didn't run into Stephanie or Hunter again. The way both of them looked at her gave her the creeps especially since Stephanie knew Zuri knew of Stephanie's North Carolina family. _Hmm, maybe if I blackmail her?_ Nah. Not worth it. After knocking on the doors again, she gave up and sadly, walked to the conference room. All she wanted was to be given a chance. A small little chance but, it didn't seem likely.

"Zuri!" Holy shit! HE had called her and of course, she probably was a smelly mess. Only her luck. When would she ever learn to be like Eva Marie: a robot who was always flawless. But then, she probably wouldn't have a job if she performed like Eva. Eh, might be worth it.

"Zuri." This time her name was much more like a caress. That may have been because he had caught up to her and was so close, she could see the Lego trademarks imprinted in his hand due to his obsession. What she wouldn't give to play Legos with him for an hour. It would be the best hour ever.

"Zuri, you need to be careful. Renee was bragging on how she was going to 'use Jon's little friend to keep him in line'." He spoke lowly and had crowded her. To passersby, they'd look like they were getting ready to engage in the usual backstage couplings that many of their coworkers enjoyed. Zuri wouldn't have minded and may have been a little excited to have that as a possibility if the flooding sensation was anything to go by. It had to be the accent because it took a minute to comprehend what he had said.

"WHAT?! That lousy, lying, soon to have no walls trollop! How dare she?! This is my LIFE!" Zuri worked hard to never let her anger get to her but damn, this was the job she loved. Any person would be mad. What could Zuri do since she was so low on the totem pole if Renee started something? Shane vanished and reappeared at will and he was the only sane and non-perverted member in his family. Vince eyed her ass every time he saw her as did his daughter and son in law. Zuri was beyond screwed. She started breathing hard and whirled so quickly, she almost knocked Fergal down.

"I gotta go. I can't-can't-can't bre-" Zuri's vision went blurry, she remembered nothing else except feeling like she was freefalling. Lucky for her, Fergal had quick hands and nothing else to do that night. He took her to the medics who seemed to busy to handle her. He managed to get her out of the exam room and into his locker room without hurting her or getting an erection due to her being so close. He didn't have anyone on the main roster's number so he checked her pockets for her phone. Luckily for him, she had no password lock and was able to find Trinity Fatu's number relatively easy.

"Girl, where are you?! I've been looking everywhere for your ass!" Trinity picked up on the first ring thankfully.

"Mrs. Fatu, it's Finn Balor. Uh, Zuri passed out and no one would look her over and she's with me and I kinda need help because-" he was rambling. He rarely rambled unless he was nervous or in Zuri's presence. Even passed out, she affected him.

"Where are you? I'm on my way." He could hear Trinity rushing to find them and he told her where they were. Within 2 minutes, she had come rushing into the room, a blur of glow in the dark hair, love and concern. She looked at Zuri and shook her head. "Anxiety attack. She needs air and probably some gummies. They always help her."

His Zuri had anxiety? Why? What would this precious angel ever have to be anxious about?

"Hey, Finn? Can you help me get her outside and stay with her while I get the candy? It really should help her."

"Anything for her."

Trinity looked at Finn, sideways. That sounded an awful lot like something someone would say if they had feelings for someone. She tried not to dwell on it but she'd need to talk to Zuri. Maybe her feelings _weren't_ so one-sided.


	5. Liquor Store Blues

Chapter 5: Liquor Store Blues

A week had passed and Zuri hadn't run into Fergal during that time. She had been able to schedule a meeting with Shane though which was great. Jay was still running around as if he was the greatest thing in the universe with Renee lapping up as much of the "juice" as she could. Jon had decided to just go back to being the introvert he was and avoid the drama while Joe decided he would enjoy being single Joe or, as he told some of the stalkers, "I'm enjoying Leati time." The three of them had been enjoying a rare three straight days off with no hassle and Zuri had used some of her down time to actually write about 3 months worth of storylines for her friends. She began an interesting fantasy storyline for she and Fergal but it was just a way to blow off steam. Everyone knew that creative was not allowed on camera and Fergal would definitely not be interested in her childish imaginings. Hopefully, Shane was able to see through Jay's bullshit and allow her to be a great writer. After all, she had shown the ambition that she knew he prized.

"Zu, stop stressing!" It was the following Monday and they were headed to the arena. Zuri had her meeting with Shane in 15 minutes and to say she was sweating bullets was an understatement. She could be fired after this meeting or all her carefully thought out storylines and plans could be given to others _again_ and everyone, especially Joe and Trinity, couldn't afford that. If it happened again or right now, they would probably be gone in a few months or they'd never get over. She HAD to get it over. Shane HAD to listen.

She looked at her boys and smiled.

"I'll be okay ya'll. I'm gonna go in and wow Shane. We're gonna make it." Zuri gave each man a peck on the cheek, straightened her blazer and quickly put her locs up into a high ponytail. Jon gave her a quick glance over and nodded his head and Joe gave her that heart stopping smile.

"You got it baby girl." They gave her a hug and went in the opposite direction she was going. As she thought about her meeting, her left palm itched which meant something great was going to happen. She was primed, amped and ready. She headed off to her meeting and prayed Shane would be ready to hear everything she had to say because what she wanted was GOING to happen whether they liked it or not.


End file.
